Dubai: She has made millions smile and won many hearts. A young woman, whose video of her mesmerising drumming performance in her bridal attire at her wedding in India has gone viral, has given the credit to the UAE for shaping her as a person that she is.
Wearing a red silk saree and high heels and decked up in traditional jewellery, and a big bunch of jasmine flowers on the mid-thigh-length braided hair with some extensions, the bride, Shilpa Sreekumar, took the internet by storm with her exuberant “chenda” performance on her wedding day.
Chenda is an almost 15-kg heavy cylindrical percussion instrument traditionally used in the south Indian state of Kerala, where Shilpa’s family hails from. It is mainly played by men in Hindu temple festivals and as an accompaniment for traditional dance forms such as Kathakali as well as in community gatherings and celebrations like Onam festivals.
When brides and/or grooms dancing or singing at Indian weddings is increasingly becoming a regular feature on their social media timelines, Shilpa’s high-voltage drumming performance along with a group of 26 male chenda and cymbal players came as a breath of fresh air to several digital natives.
Though it was meant to be a surprise gift for the bridegroom Devanand Chelot, the video shows an equally high-spirited Devanand joining Shilpa by playing a pair of cymbals. Shilpa’s father Sreekumar Paliyath also joined with another chenda, literally drumming up more cheer and making the wedding celebration more endearing.